A Beautiful Pageant: African American Theatre, Drama and Performance in the Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance was an unprecedented period of vitality in the American Arts. Defined as the years between 1910 and 1927, it was the time when Harlem came alive with theater, drama, sports, dance and politics. Looking at events as diverse as the prizefight between Jack Johnson and Jim 'White Hope' Jeffries, the choreography of Aida Walker and Ethel Waters, the writing of Zora Neale Hurston and the musicals of the period, Krasner paints a vibrant portrait of those years. This was the time when the residents of northern Manhattan were leading their downtown counterparts at the vanguard of artistic ferment while at the same time playing a pivotal role in the evolution of Black nationalism. This is a thrilling piece of work by an author who has been working towards this major opus for years now. It will become a classic that will stay on the American history and theater shelves for years to come.

Author: D. Krasner
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
Published: 10/15/2002
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.52lbs
Size: 9.58h x 6.20w x 1.22d
ISBN: 9780312295905

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 08/12/2002 pg. 288
Library Journal 10/01/2002 pg. 96
Library Journal 11/01/2002 pg. 116
Choice 03/01/2003 pg. 1168

About the Author
DAVID KRASNER is Director of Undergraduate Theater Studies at Yale University. His previous book Resistance, Parody, and Double Consciousness in African American Theater, 1895-1910 (SMP 1997) received the 1998 Errol Hill Award from the American Society for Theater Research.

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